WEC: Barbosa joins Krohn P2 team for Le Mans

Krohn Racing has announced that IMSA TUDOR Championship ace Joao Barbosa will join its team as the third driver along with team owner/driver Tracy Krohn and longtime teammate Nic Jonsson for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It is Krohn and Jonsson's 10th year as a driving duo at the French track and 11th as teammates, and will be Barbosa's eighth running at the 24 Hours. Krohn Racing will be competing for the first time at Le Mans in the LMP2 class with its Ligier-Judd, having raced for the past eight years in a Ferrari and in a Porsche, all in the GT/GTE-Am class.

Krohn and Jonsson are competing in the same No. 40 Ligier-Judd in the European Le Mans Series this season with third driver, Ozz Negri Jr. in the LMP2 class.

Portuguese native Barbosa currently leads the TUDOR Championship Prototype driver  standings, where he drives the #5 Action Express Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP.

"We want to welcome Joao Barbosa to our team for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans," said Krohn. "As you can imagine, we had a lot of interest from drivers to join us this year at Le Mans in the new Ligier-Judd. It's a competitive package and a step-up up for our team. We've already shown a lot of strength in a short amount of time and hope we can do the same at Le Mans. Joao is a great addition because, although he's not driven the Ligier, he has Le Mans experience and is a fierce and skilled competitor and will suit our team well. He won't be able to join us at the Test due to his IMSA commitment with the race in Detroit, but we feel he'll be able to get up to speed in the Ligier rather quickly, come race week."

"We are delighted to welcome such an experienced and quick driver as Joao Barbosa to Krohn Racing for the 24 Hours," added team manager Gary Holland. "His experience and race craft will be very important to us at Le Mans, alongside Tracy and Nic. We are looking at building on from a strong showing at the 12 Hours of Sebring and solid start in the ELMS at Silverstone. The LMP2 class is extremely strong, as both WEC and ELMS races have proven so far this season, however, we think we have the right tools in place to be successful at Le Mans."

"I was very excited when I got the phone call with the invitation to drive at Le Mans with Krohn Racing," said Barbosa. "I'm not only excited to be able to get back to Le Mans but also to join a top team with a great operation.

"This opportunity came about when I was talking with one of Krohn Racing engineers and how I would love to go back to Le Mans. He mentioned that there could be a possibility so we kept in touch and I just waited. I was thrilled when I received the phone call to join them. Although we've competed on the same circuit in America off and on over the years, I'm really looking forward to spend more time with Nic and Tracy to get to know them better. One of the exciting challenges will be to drive the Ligier for the first time. I've been racing against them in the IMSA TUDOR Championship, so I will be able to have an inside look of how good car it is. From what I've seen it's a great car, very competitive and I think the overall package will work very well at Le Mans."